1
Now when Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, he said unto his sons, “Why
do ye look one upon another?”
2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: get you down there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.”
This famine was bad enough that people as far away as Canaan need to go buy grain from Egypt.
3 And Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
This would be his ten older brothers.
4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brothers; for he said, “Lest peradventure mischief befall him.”
Jacob is still playing favorites. This is his only child that is left from his beloved Rachael, as well as his baby. He isn’t going to risk losing him.
5 And the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brothers came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
7 And Joseph saw his brothers, and he knew them, but made himself a stranger unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, “Where do ye come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8 And Joseph knew his brothers, but they knew not him.
The Hebrews would have had full beards and Joseph was only about seventeen when they sold him. He is now over thirty, clean shaven, and dressed like an Egyptian. When you add in the fact that they believed he was dead and so weren’t looking for him, it is no wonder they didn’t recognize him.
On the other hand, they were full grown adults when Joseph left and probably had changed little. They would have been wearing the same style of clothes. And Joseph would have seen that there were people from Canaan coming to buy grain and may have been looking for them.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, “Ye are spies; to see the weaknesses of the land ye are come.”
Remember that in his dreams his brother’s bowed down to him. That is being fulfilled before his eyes. He decides to test them and see if they have changed any. He is also probably checking to see if they have sold Benjamin off too.
10 And they said unto him, “No, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
11 “We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.”
They tell the truth, hoping at this point to get out of Egypt alive.
12 And he said unto them, “No, but to see the weaknesses of the land ye are come.”
13 And they said, “Thy servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is dead.”
14 And Joseph said unto them, “That is it that I spake unto you, saying, ‘Ye are spies:’
15 “Here's how ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go from here, except your youngest brother come here.
16 “Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.”
He wanted to see Benjamin to make sure he was still alive. He didn’t believe they hadn’t sold him, too.
17 And he put them all together into prison three days.
18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, “This do, and live; for I fear God:
19 “If ye be true men, let one of your brothers be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry grain for the famine of your houses:
20 “But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.” And they did so.
21 And they said one to another, “We are very guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; that is why this distress come upon us.”
They believe God is punishing them now for what they did to Joseph.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Spake I not unto you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the child;’ and ye would not hear? Therefore, behold, also his blood is required.”
“I told you so!”
23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
What better way to really find out what is on their minds?
24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
Why Simeon? The Bible doesn’t say.
25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with grain, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.
I don’t know if he was intending to scare them or if he just couldn’t bring himself to let his own family pay for food to survive. It really looks more like the later.
26 And they loaded their donkeys with the grain, and departed from there.
27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth.
28 And he said unto his brothers, “My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack!” and their hearts failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that happened to them; saying,
30 "The man, who is the boss of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 "And we said unto him, 'We are true men; we are no spies:
32 "'We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is dead, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.'
33 "And the man, the boss of the country, said unto us, 'Here's how I shall know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:
34 “'And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall do business in the land.'”
They leave out the part about this being punishment for what they did to Joseph of course.
35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
36 And Jacob their father said unto them, “Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.”
He appears to suspect that they had something to do with Joseph’s death and is also blaming them for Simeon’s absence, counting him as dead too.
37 And Reuben spoke unto his father, saying, “Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.”
I don’t know how much of a punishment this would be since Reuben’s two sons were Jacob’s grandsons. Surly it would hurt Jacob nearly as much as Reuben for him to kill them. But it shows how worried he is about Simeon and about feeding the whole clan.
38 And Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him while you are gone, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
“No.”
2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt: get you down there, and buy for us from there; that we may live, and not die.”
This famine was bad enough that people as far away as Canaan need to go buy grain from Egypt.
3 And Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
This would be his ten older brothers.
4 But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent not with his brothers; for he said, “Lest peradventure mischief befall him.”
Jacob is still playing favorites. This is his only child that is left from his beloved Rachael, as well as his baby. He isn’t going to risk losing him.
5 And the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brothers came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
7 And Joseph saw his brothers, and he knew them, but made himself a stranger unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, “Where do ye come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8 And Joseph knew his brothers, but they knew not him.
The Hebrews would have had full beards and Joseph was only about seventeen when they sold him. He is now over thirty, clean shaven, and dressed like an Egyptian. When you add in the fact that they believed he was dead and so weren’t looking for him, it is no wonder they didn’t recognize him.
On the other hand, they were full grown adults when Joseph left and probably had changed little. They would have been wearing the same style of clothes. And Joseph would have seen that there were people from Canaan coming to buy grain and may have been looking for them.
9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, “Ye are spies; to see the weaknesses of the land ye are come.”
Remember that in his dreams his brother’s bowed down to him. That is being fulfilled before his eyes. He decides to test them and see if they have changed any. He is also probably checking to see if they have sold Benjamin off too.
10 And they said unto him, “No, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.
11 “We are all one man's sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.”
They tell the truth, hoping at this point to get out of Egypt alive.
12 And he said unto them, “No, but to see the weaknesses of the land ye are come.”
13 And they said, “Thy servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is dead.”
14 And Joseph said unto them, “That is it that I spake unto you, saying, ‘Ye are spies:’
15 “Here's how ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go from here, except your youngest brother come here.
16 “Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.”
He wanted to see Benjamin to make sure he was still alive. He didn’t believe they hadn’t sold him, too.
17 And he put them all together into prison three days.
18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, “This do, and live; for I fear God:
19 “If ye be true men, let one of your brothers be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry grain for the famine of your houses:
20 “But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die.” And they did so.
21 And they said one to another, “We are very guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; that is why this distress come upon us.”
They believe God is punishing them now for what they did to Joseph.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, “Spake I not unto you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the child;’ and ye would not hear? Therefore, behold, also his blood is required.”
“I told you so!”
23 And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
What better way to really find out what is on their minds?
24 And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
Why Simeon? The Bible doesn’t say.
25 Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with grain, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.
I don’t know if he was intending to scare them or if he just couldn’t bring himself to let his own family pay for food to survive. It really looks more like the later.
26 And they loaded their donkeys with the grain, and departed from there.
27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack's mouth.
28 And he said unto his brothers, “My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack!” and their hearts failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, “What is this that God has done to us?”
29 And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that happened to them; saying,
30 "The man, who is the boss of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 "And we said unto him, 'We are true men; we are no spies:
32 "'We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is dead, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.'
33 "And the man, the boss of the country, said unto us, 'Here's how I shall know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:
34 “'And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall do business in the land.'”
They leave out the part about this being punishment for what they did to Joseph of course.
35 And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
36 And Jacob their father said unto them, “Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.”
He appears to suspect that they had something to do with Joseph’s death and is also blaming them for Simeon’s absence, counting him as dead too.
37 And Reuben spoke unto his father, saying, “Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.”
I don’t know how much of a punishment this would be since Reuben’s two sons were Jacob’s grandsons. Surly it would hurt Jacob nearly as much as Reuben for him to kill them. But it shows how worried he is about Simeon and about feeding the whole clan.
38 And Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him while you are gone, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
“No.”